13. Also urges States parties to limit the extent of any reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to formulate any such reservations as precisely and as narrowly as possible, to ensure that no reservations are incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention, to review their reservations regularly with a view to withdrawing them and to withdraw reservations that are contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention; 14. Stresses that States have an affirmative duty to promote and protect the human rights of women and girls and must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish acts of all forms of violence against women and girls, and calls upon States: (a) To apply international human rights norms and to consider, as a matter of priority, becoming party to international human rights instruments that relate to violence against women and girls, and to implement fully their international obligations; (b) To fully achieve and implement the goals set and commitments made relating to eliminating violence against women contained in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in September 1995 by the Fourth World Conference on Women (A/CONF.177/20, chap. I) and the outcome of the twentythird special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”; (c) To take all measures to empower women and strengthen their economic independence and to protect and promote the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in order to allow women and girls to protect themselves better against violence and, in this regard, to give priority to education, training, economic opportunity and political participation of women; (d) To condemn violence against women and not invoke custom, tradition or practices in the name of religion or culture to avoid their obligations to eliminate such violence; (e) To address the specific circumstances facing girls and young women in relation to violence, especially sexual violence, including its immediate and long-term consequences; (f) To intensify efforts to develop and/or utilize legislative, educational, social and other measures aimed at the prevention of violence against women, including the adoption and implementation of laws, the dissemination of information, active involvement with community-based players, and the training of legal, judicial and health personnel, and, where possible, through developing and strengthening support services; (g) To enact and, where necessary, reinforce or amend domestic legislation, including measures to enhance the protection of victims, to investigate, prosecute, punish and redress the wrongs done to women and girls subjected to any form of violence, whether in the home, the workplace, the community or society, in custody or in situations of armed conflict, to ensure that such legislation conforms with relevant international human rights instruments and humanitarian law, and to take action to investigate and punish persons who perpetrate acts of violence against women; page 4